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I cannot believe how fast January has flown by, it's really scaring me to think that in just a few months time I will have finished uni and i'll have to get a job, well that's if I ever figure out what I want to do with my degree. Anyway, todays post is about all of the products i've been loving throughout January.

Granted most of these products I have actually purchased this month, but apart from these products my favourites hadn't changed that much from my December favourites.

First up is a product that I knew I was going to love as soon as I smelt it and that is the &Other Stories Punk Bouquet Body Scrub, which is really hard to explain but it has hints of vanilla and floral that comes together to create a lovely scent. I lather this up in my hands and apply all over my body to give it a good scrub, leaving my skin feeling so soft and smelling incredible. Next up is a product that I spoke about last week and that is the La Roche Posay Hydreane Legere, which is my new favourite moisturiser. This is aimed at those who suffer with the odd amount of dry skin and it's been working really well for me recently. For my first La Roche Posay product i'm really impressed. Sticking with skincare and another product I spoke about briefly also is the Pixie Glow Tonic which I picked up in London the other week. This just works really well to exfoliate without being really harsh on my skin and i've actually noticed my dry skin to be at bay at the minute. I believe you can now order this online also. Next up is the foundation that i've used literally everyday since purchasing it and that is the Revlon Nearly Naked Foundation. I just love this, the shade matches really well with my skin tone, it buffs in really easily and gives a flawless finish that lasts really well on my skin. So overall i'm glad I purchased this. Next up is the &Other Stories Nail Polish in 'Etamine Lavender' which i've been wearing on my nails for the past two weeks. It's the perfect winter purple in my eyes and lasts quite well on the nails. Lastly this month i've been loving the Nivea Vanilla Macadamia Lip Butter and it's been keeping my lips really moisturised. I love that it's more buttery than the typical lip balms and I actually find this helps soothe the lips rather than just masking the dryness.

Hey guys, something slightly different today but I hope some of you with be able to help me out.

As some of you may know i'm currently writing my dissertation and I wanted to ask you guys a little favour. If you could spare a few minutes of your time to fill out my dissertation survey, that would be great!

As you can tell from the name of my blog, I like to splurge and by splurge I mean shop ha! Today i've got my next recent purchases post for you guys, as I haven't done one in a while and i've accumulated a few items over the past few weeks, so I thought i'd show you what i've bought.

Now, you'll probably notice that the majority of these clothing items are in fact dresses and items I can't really wear at the minute, what with it being less than 10 degrees outside but I know i'll get a lot of wear out of all of these things when it comes to nights out and when the weather starts to warm up.

So let's get into this! First up is this beautiful River Island Black Crochet Slip Dress, i'd never usually think to purchase something like this but last monday River Island had a two hour 20% off offer and when I saw this online I instantly thought how nice it would look on a chilled out summers day. Next up is this Primark Floral Print Smock Dress, which is very similar to that Primark dress every blogger had last summer but sadly I didn't get my hands on that, so when I saw this in store I just had to get it. I picked up a size 8 as it is supposed to be a smock style dress although it just looks like a loose fitting skater on me. The next dress is the Motel Tiara Sun Moon Starts Print Dress, which i've seen so many people wearing at the minute and when ASOS had their 20% student discount last week I just knew I had to order it. I love the lace up detail up the back and the print is beautiful. This next dress has got to be my favourite purchase of them all and that is the River Island Prom Dress, which i've had my eye for so long and I ended up purchasing when I was browsing my local River Island last weekend. I can't wait to wear this! Onto the last dress and that is this lovely Topshop Floral Print Skater Dress, I saw this the other day and I just had to try it on. As it was sooo comfy and flattering I thought why not, especially as I can wear this to pretty much any occasion as it can be dressed up or down. Last of the clothing items now and that is this adorable Primark Floral Jumpsuit, which when I tried it on I loved the fit. I can see myself wearing this a lot on the cooler summer days.

Now onto the few beauty bits i've picked up recently. With the ASOS student discount I also purchased the REN Clear Calm3 Clarifying Clay Cleanser, which I had wanted for ages and with the discount I just had to order it. As the new Revlon Color Burst Lacquer Balms have finally made there way over here and after receiving one from Alexandra I just had to pick up another. I picked up the shade 'Coquette' which is a beautiful light pink shade. As Revlon had a 3 for 2 offer on, I succumbed to the Revlon Lip Butters after avoiding them for so long. I picked up the shades 'Raspberry Pie', which as the name suggests is a deep raspberry shade and 'Sugar Plum', a deep plum shade.

So that is everything i've recently purchased, i'm blaming it on all of the offers that have been on recently!

This week has a bit more fun filled as I haven't had work, but I have been trying to crack on with uni work especially as my dissertation seems to be taking longer than I expected.

Found the biggest bargain of my life - Jeffery Campbells were always the shoes i'd lust over and know i'd never own, until I saw these reduced to £6 in TKMaxx. YES, SIX WHOLE POUNDS!

Fell in love with pink lemonade - This is literally all I drank during the summer and I kind of forgot it existed until I saw it on offer the other day. It's good to have it back in my life!

Had an accidental haul - So I went into my local town centre to get my mum some bits and bobs for her birthday but I ended up buying myself a few things, which i'll feature in a recent purchases post soonish.

Did my first ever box swap - If you haven't already seen, but I did a box swap with Alexandra from The A Style which I received this week! You can read a little more about it here.

Had a lovely day with Mum for her birthday - Today is my Mum's birthday so we've spent the day shopping in Merry Hill and I also treated her to lunch at Frankie & Benny's. Their calzones are so tasty!

So, if some of you follow me on twitter you may have seen me talking about a beauty swap that I was doing with the lovely Alexandra from The A Style. We'd been talking for quite some time, and then one of us suggested doing a box swap and as i'd never done one before I was really excited to be doing my first one with Alexandra.

Just after Christmas we'd got back onto the subject of the box swap and decided that we were both happy to do the box swap pretty much asap, so we decided on a budget and sent over a list of things we wanted. Within about a week we'd both purchased everything and shipped our box's, which weirdly enough we both received on Thursday and even though I had to pay some crazy customs charges, i'm still so glad we did this box swap and i'd definitely do one again.

Now let's get onto the contents of the box. Alexandra has actually wrapped everything in the cutest Christmas wrapping paper but I was far too excited and opened everything without photographing it. At the top of the box was a load of sweets, which were mainly cherry flavoured as i'd mentioned to Alexandra that I love cherry flavoured sweets. She threw in a pack of the Maynards Sour Cherry Blasters and the Maynards Linkz Sour Cherry Blasters, which i'm not sure if we can get those over here but i've already eaten a lot of these and loveeee them! She also included a Cadbury Dairy Milk Cookie Crunch Bar which i've never seen over here and i'm intrigued to see if the chocolate tastes like it does over here. Also in true Canadian style she added in a Maple Syrup Canadian Leaf Lolly, which I think I had when I visited Canada many years ago.

Moving on, I asked Alexandra if she could include some stuff from Bath & Body Works and the things she picked are right up my street. The first is this Warm Vanilla Sugar Body Lotion, which has a really subtle vanilla sugary scent that I actually really like and I can't wait to use this. Now this swap wouldn't have been a swap without some candles and Alexandra kindly got me two, the first one is the Warm Vanilla Sugar Candle, which I actually asked for and then she threw in a mini Pumpkin Pecan Waffles Candle, which I could smell as soon as I opened the box. I can't wait to burn these as they smell sooooo good!

Now onto the beauty goodies and Alexandra kindly got me two things that I really wasn't expecting. The first is the NYX Boheme Chic Palette, as i'd asked for a few things from NYX that she couldn't get hold of. This palette contains a bunch of eyeshadows and a few blush's, which I can't wait to try out. She also kindly got me the Smash Box Best Sellers Set, which i'm so grateful for and she shouldn't have got me this, but i've never tried anything from Smash Box but i've heard some great things about some of the products in this set! Now onto lip products, this first product we can now actually get in the UK but as I wasn't sure of the release date I added it to my list and that is the Revlon Color Burst Lacquer Balm in the shade 'Flirtatious'. I haven't actually swatched this yet but I can't wait to try this out as I love my lip crayons/chubby sticks! She also kindly included another Maybelline Color Whisper in the shade 'A Plum Prospect' after stupidly losing mine on a night out and i'm so glad to have this back in my life! Now one thing I hadn't even thought about were the EOS Lip Balms, but Alexandra threw one in anyway for me to try.

Sticking with beauty, the next product is one that i'd been wanting for a while and that was the Tarte Amazonian Blush in 'Buff' after falling in love with my other Tarte blush I knew that I needed another one to add to my collection. Moving onto eyes and of course I was going to ask for some Wet'n Wild things. I opted for the Wet'n Wild Walking on Egg Shells Palette as this is the one that everyone raves about. Alexandra also added another palette, which is the Wet'n Wild Knock on Wood Palette. I love that she added this one in, as I love the shades and they are right up my street! The next product I received was the L'oreal Color Infalliable Eye Shadow in the shade 'Burning Black', which I think we can get here (correct me if i'm wrong) but i've never actually seen them. It looks like a pressed eyeshadow, in this lovely burnt red/brown shade that comes out quite dark and I think this would work really well to create a smokey eye look. This next product is by a brand i've heard a lot about but isn't that easily available in the UK and that is the Make Up Forever Water Proof Shadow Pencil. I'm not too sure on the shade name, but it's this lovely golden shade that I love and I think would work really well! Last but not least is the Wet'n Wild H20 Proof Liquid Eyeliner, which just shows how well Alexandra knows me as I always wear liquid eyeliner. I'm quite excited to try this as I have always repurchased my trusty Collection Fast Stroke and never delved into any others, so i'm intrigued to see how I get on with this one.

So that is everything Alexandra got me! I'm so thankful and appreciative of all the lovely things she purchased for me and I cannot wait to try out all of these products! (Thank you Alexandra if you're reading this). Make sure you go and check out Alexandra's post on what I got her here.

Even though i'm really getting into my skincare, I don't really blog about it all the much and as it's going to take me a while to review every single skincare product individually I have decided to start another series where I run through the skincare products i'm using and loving at the moment, and i'll update it every now and then when I discover new products.

For the first post in the series I have quite a few products and some are very obvious picks seeing as a lot of people rave about them, but I still wanted to add my own opinion as I really do enjoy using them.

First up is the L'oreal Gentle Eye Makeup Remover, which I picked up after hearing it was somewhat similar to the Clarins eye makeup remover and I wasn't really enjoying using my micelle solutions to remove my eye makeup, so I picked this up on a whim and I actually really like it. It removes my eye makeup really well and doesn't irritate my eyes at all which is good, the only downside is that i'm getting through it so quickly. The next two products are both cleansers and i've been rotating these for the past few weeks. The products in question are the Caudalie Gentle Cleansing Milk, which is a really gentle cleanser that works well just to give my skin a really good clean but I wouldn't describe it as a milk more of a lotion almost? and the Soap & Glory Peaches and Cream Deep Purifying Cleanser, which is similar to the Caudalie one in the sense that it's really gentle on my skin and it smells really nice also. I use both of these in the same way, apply to the face when dry and remove using a muslin cloth, easy peasy. I do sometimes double cleanse if I feel the need.

Now moving onto the products I use after removing my makeup and cleansing. First up is a really new purchase but one i'm already loving, and that is the Pixi Glow Tonic. Now i've heard so many bloggers rave about this and I can see why. It's a chemical exfoliating toner, that works to exfoliate the skin without causing any damage like beady exfoliators would and as I get dry patches especially on my forehead and chin, this has been working really well to remove those without irritating them. I wish i'd picked up another bottle of this stuff now. The next product is one that I don't use every single day, but is one that I could not go too long without and that is Hydraluron. I've spoke about this a few times and it's a serum that you apply before your moisturiser in order to keep the skin hydrated throughout the day and it does exactly that. I love this product and it's lasting really well, so i'm very impressed. Last but not least is another recent purchase that I haven't talked about on the blog before, but I was browsing the Laroche Posay section in Boots and I came across a few testers of their moisturisers, which were reduced and it led to me purchasing the Laroche Posay Hydreane Legere, which is basically a hydrating moisturiser. They have two versions of this, one for extremely dry skin and then this version for the odd bit of dry skin. This has actually replaced my Origins GinZing for the time being and it has been working really well, keeping my dry skin really at bay but i've been told that this does smell a bit like sun cream, I personally haven't noticed this but either way it's a great moisturiser.

So those are my current skincare go to products, hopefully this has given you a little more info on some of the products i've featured previously.

What with the New Year I was excited to receive my first Birchbox of the year, mainly because I had high hopes for this box after a somewhat disappointing December box and i'm a little unsure what to make of this months box in all honesty.

This months box is titles 'Tiny Tweaks' and you can immediately see these tiny tweaks when you open the first Birchbox of 2014. This year Birchbox are focusing on small daily changes that are said will make a big difference by the end of the year, so i'm intrigued to see what this year will bring for Birchbox. Now onto the box itself.

As I touched on above you can immediatly see changes with Birchbox, they've scrapped the little draw string canvas bags for tissue paper and they've also introduced a small hand sized magazine rather than those weird cards, that always ended up going in my recycling bin. I don't know what to make of the changes as the draw string bags really set Birchbox aside from GlossyBox but now i'm not so sure, but let's move onto the products within this months box.

The first product is the Phillip Kingsley Elasticizer, which is a product i've heard a lot about but one i've never actually tried and i'm glad I now have the chance to give this a whirl without having to splurge on it. Next is another product i've wanted to try out for some time and that is the Benefit POREfessional Primer. I used this product this morning actually and my foundation is still looking pretty in place, but I will report back on this. In every Birchbox i've ever had there is always a random extra product/item and this months box has brought me a Birchbox Eye Mask, i've never really used eye masks before but I suppose this will give my the opportunity to see what they're like and what they can do for my eyes I suppose. The next product is the Rodial Stemcell Super-Food Day Cream, and this is said to give the skin a burst of hydration for a healthy, radiant complexion which to me sounds pretty good, so i'm intrigued to try this out. Sticking with skincare the next product is the Vasanti Detox Purifying Facial Cleanser. I'm always open to try out new cleansers as I really do get satisfaction out of washing my face and knowing i'm getting rid of all the crap building up on my skin and this is said to remove any toxins from the skin, so we shall see. The final product is one that I know I won't use and I wish you could opt out of receiving certain products but it is the Lavera Basis Sensitive Hand Cream. I could be classed as a hand cream hoarder, as I have so many yet I do not use them. Hand creams is just not a product that I need in my life right now.

Even though there are some pretty amazing products in this months box, i'm just a little disheartened that Birchbox is starting to resemble a similar disappointment that I experienced with GlossyBox (which led me to unsubscribing) but fingers crossed that's not going to happen.

This week hasn't been an overly excitable week as I haven't done an awful lot. I went back to work on Thursday and worked the majority of the weekend, which means this weeks post is a little short and lacking but next week will hopefully be a little more eventful.

Reorganised my storage shelves - I felt my storage system from Ikea needed a little lift, so I decided to neaten up the shelves with the use of my magazine collection and some cute storage boxes.

Spent the day in London - As some of you may know I popped to London on Tuesday, visiting galleries and fulfilling my need for some London air.

Rekindled my love for the Sugar Crush scent - I've been loving using this body butter for the past week or so and it just reminded my how much I love the sugar crush range from Soap & Glory. Crushed sugar and lime, heavenly.

If you saw my post all about what I bought in the Christmas sales then you will have seen that I picked up this powder trio from Soap & Glory. I originally wasn't going to purchase it, but with the price of this being less than one of powders inside I couldn't really turn it down, especially as I had wanted to try out their powders for a while.

This set contains three of the Soap & Glory pressed powders, all of which I believe are centred around creating a really flawless overall make up look with each powder having it's own purpose. I've been loving using this palette recently as each shade works really well against my skin tone and the palette is really easy when it comes transporting my makeup around.

Starting at top left we have Soap & Glory Glow All Out, a pinky peach toned aluminising face powder which i've been using as an overall highlighter focusing on my forehead, nose and chin area. What I love about this is that it's not too shimmery and it's quite subtle so it's perfect for everyday use as it adds just enough glow for my liking. Moving across we have Soap & Glory Love at First Blush, which as you can see is this beautiful mixture of pinky, rose gold and shimmery tones that when you mix together creates a lovely shimmery blush shade. I've been applying this to the apples of my cheeks just to add a slight flush of colour and I really like it, similar to the last product it has just enough shimmer for my liking and works well for an everyday makeup look. Then moving down we have Soap & Glory Solar Powder, which is this multi shade bronzer with a lighter and darker shade. I mix these together as I find they create a lovely warm based bronzer that isn't orange at all and works really well with my pale skin tone. The purple shimmer part does come off pretty much after one use, leaving you with a matte bronzer. Again, i've really been enjoying this and has become my go to bronzer for the time being.

Even though this set is now sold out, you can still purchase each of these pressed powders separately and I couldn't recommend them any more if I tried. I've also heard their One Heck of a Blot powder is really good and i'll for sure be checking that out next.

Todays post is something a little different, what with Christmas having just passed and our bank accounts probably not looking that great, i've got something that might help when it comes to saving those precious few pounds when it comes to beauty shopping.

My Beauty Compare is like your normal price comparison site, similar to the ones we use for car insurance, home insurance etc but this is formulated for everything beauty including skincare, makeup, hair and so much more.

What is so great about My Beauty Compare is that is totally tailored to you, by creating your own account and editing your profile to your characteristics it recommends products based upon your hair type or skin type for example, which you can then go onto compare the price of said products across various different online retailers.

The website itself is really user friendly and it allows you to view reviews of each product on the website so you can get a feel for it before purchasing, rather than having to troll the internet looking for reviews.

All in all I think it's a great concept and I wanted to give you guys the heads up as it will really help when it comes to saving those few extra pennies!

Yesterday I went on a day trip to London with Beckie from uni to go round a few of the galleries in order to get a load of research and references for our final major project and whilst we were there I thought i'd take a few snaps of our day to share with you guys.

So we started out down South Bank, where we walked along the river to Tate, which was so much bigger than I was expecting, we spent ages in there taking photo's and getting inspiration but it's worth a visit if you haven't been before. We then ended up somewhere near bank underground station and by this point we were starving so we popped into this little cafe called Apostrophe, which was actually really nice! I had the thickest hot chocolate ever, it was like drinking melted chocolate! After we'd sorted out our starvation we hopped on the tube down to Chelsea to visit the Saatchi Gallery where we saw this amazing exhibition by Richard Wilson, which was basically this room full of oil, it was so still and almost calming in a way. If you ever find yourself near Sloanes Square I honestly recommend popping into Saatchi to see it. After that we walked into the square of shops just around the back of the gallery and found a Zara with the biggest sale ever. We also popped into Space NK on our way back to the station but luckily I stopped myself from purchasing anything. After that we retreated to Oxford St to visit &Other Stories and a few other shops before stopping for some dinner in B-Soho, a little pizzeria just off Oxford St which was really tasty. After that we headed back to Marylebone to get the train home and I got myself a white hot chocolate from the AMT coffee hut in the station. It was honestly the best white hot chocolate i've ever tasted!

Now onto my purchases, I thought i'd throw these in at the end as it wasn't really enough for a separate haul post. In Zara I noticed this Zara Basic Shoulder Bag reduced down to £19.99 and as it was the last one I nabbed it off the shelf straight away. As we were in London we had to visit &Other Stories, where I picked up the Punk Bouquet Body Scrub, which smells so good. I also picked up two of their nail varnishes, Moire Green which is a very light green & Etamine Lavender which is your typical lavender shade but a little darker. Also I spotted that they stock Eborian so I got myself another one of their BB Creme Light as I loved using it during the summer. We also popped into Pixi so I could finally get my hands on the Pixi Glow Tonic, which they don't have in the pump bottles anymore. As we were on Oxford St we popped into this little newsagents that Beckie knew of that sells all of the fashion magazines that you can normally pick up in Selfridges, so I picked up a few for research and design inspo. As for gallery shopping I picked up a few things to put into my fmp research such as post cards and this really cool book which I believe is called Poemotion 1. I also picked up this cute little 'Love' Plaque from the Saatchi Gallery and I thought it would look really cute around my desk area.

So that was my little London day trip. I know I didn't get much of the scenery but by the end of the day I was so tired that I didn't want to get my camera out.

Todays post is a little different as i've never reviewed a whole brands range in one go, but the lovely people at Ginger & Co sent me their entire range to try out and review, and after a couple of months of testing out their products I can now sit down and tell you guys what I think.

Ginger & Co are a relatively new brand that is born and bred in England. Dubbed as a Soap & Glory dupe brand offering 1940's inspired bath and body products, with their own individual scents and style.

I was pretty excited to try out their range as most of you guys know, I love Soap & Glory but some of their prices can be pretty off putting at times so I was intrigued to see if Ginger&Co could offer the same experience but on a more friendly budget. So let's get into this!

The first product that instantly caught my eye was the Soft on You Comforting Body Butter*, the main reason for this being that it actually got damaged in transit but that aside, this body butter has started off my body butter obsession. I don't normally use body butters as i'm too lazy to wait for them to sink in, but this one has changed that. I love the marshmallow lemon scent to this that just lingers on my skin after applying, and it also leaves my skin feeling so soft and moisturised. The next product is another that I don't normally use and that it the Hand it To Me Dreamy Hand Cream*. Now, I have an endless supply of hand creams, but because I don't suffer from dry hands I don't tend to use them that much, but when I have felt the need to use one this is the one i've been reaching for. I like that the scent of this isn't too evident, as there is nothing worse than a hand cream that has an overpowering scent. It sinks right in and instantly makes my hands feel all soft and nice.

Moving onto more body wash products, the Soft on You Daily Body Lotion* is one that i've been reaching for a lot after my showers. Now, this body lotion is exactly the same scent as the body butter but a lot more creamy and quicker to apply. I normally focus on my dry areas, such as knees and elbows just to give them that extra bit of moisture. It sinks in so quickly and I love that because I don't have to sit around for ages, I can just get dressed and go! Next up is the Bathing Beauty Moisturising Bubble Bath & Wash*, which I haven't used all that much but it does an amazing job of creating a nice amount of bubbles for a warm, cosy bubble bath. It's also a really nice shower gel alternative as it's quite creamy and lathers up really well leaving my skin feeling soft and clean.

Onto the last two products and these are the ones that I have really been loving recently. Starting with the Heavenly Hands Moisturising Hand Wash*, this is currently sitting next to my sink and I use it every time I wash my hands. It's gingery berry scent is lovely and leaves my hands feeling so soft and most importantly clean. If I ever manage to get through this huge bottle, I will probably repurchase this. Now last but certainly not least is the Double Up Creamy Body Wash*, this product i've actually almost used up as it's been sat on my shower gel holder in my shower. I love the scent of this, very similar to the hand wash and it is just a lovely body wash. It also has an added moisturiser, so it makes my skin feel really soft and supple.

All in all i'm really impressed with Ginger&Co, their packaging is so cute and colourful, and I love their brand name what with me being a natural ginger and all! Not to forget their products are so cheap, almost a third of the price of some Soap & Glory products!

Their website is currently under construction, but you can purchase any of their products from Semichem and they currently have a little sale on!

Have you tried out any of Ginger&Co's products?

*products were sent to me for review, but my opinion is 100% honest as always.

This week has been an odd one, as I went back to uni I expected to be all motivated and busy but i've been the complete opposite. Next week i'm gonna have to knuckle down and get my motivation hat on!

Made some very preempted summer purchases - I know, it's freezing outside but i'm already thinking ahead to summer. I picked up this floral print tshirt dress from Primark, knowing full well it won't be in store when the weather starts to get warmer and the bikini was reduced to £3 in Topshop!

Went back to the gym - After a random break from the gym during the majority of December and with the classes starting back up this week, I thought it was about time I got my bum back in the gym!

Had my first Starbucks of the year - As I popped to Merry Hill the other day I decided to grab a Starbucks on my way out. Caramel hot chocolate, yes please. It was strange to be drinking out of a red cup, what with Christmas long gone now!

Tweaked my blog layout - I finally decided it was time for some change and i'm actually really happy with it after a few dilemmas and lots of google aided help. What do you think?

Ordered my lusted after books - I finally went and bought IT and Lauren Conrad Beauty, after not getting them for Christmas and my student loan coming in, I didn't second guess it and pressed 'add to basket'. I can't wait to start reading these, especially LC Beauty!

Ate some tasty chicken - On Friday night I popped out for a little meal with a couple of the girls from college. First Nando's of the year and it's rekindled my love for their tasty chicken!